Wheels-Tires 04 Mustang Wheels won't sit against rotor

[pindude80]

I bought an 88 Mustang GT a couple months ago. I don't like the wheels that are on it so today I bought a set of Bullitt style wheels that would have come off of about an 04 Mustang gt.

I wanted to test fit them on the car. I tried to bolt them on and noticed the back of the wheel was not against the rotor. I started looking around more and noticed the hub for the rotor was up against the wheel which was not letting the wheel slide all the way back.

My car was 5 lug swapped by someone somewhere along the line. I found a note in the glove box that said brake calipers are 1981 LTD. I'm not sure if that is what the rotors are also or not.

I was under the assumption that all Ford 5 lug cars could run the same wheel but apparently that is not the case.

Do I need to get front rotors for an sn95 or what is the proper solution so I can run these wheels?

Thanks in advance.

 

[nickyb]

I do know my cobra brake upgrade that I did myself, I used 95 spindles and 04 cobra 13 inch rotors. I can use just about any mustang wheels I want.
I believe the Lincoln rotors won't fit most newer wheels,maybe Ltd also.

 

[Noobz347]

I'm sure he'll find it anyway but shout to @Mustang5L5 .

He's an encyclopedia of the wheels, brakes, and stuff and things.

 

[limp]

is this getting into a Hub centric vs a lug centric fit?

 

[Noobz347]

is this getting into a Hub centric vs a lug centric fit?

Yes. And I don't remember all the combos and what works with what.

 

[AeroCoupe]

My guess is you have the old school way of a five lug swap. Basically using either the Lincoln Mark VII rotors or the Ranger rotors on the stock Fox Mustang spindles. The rotor hub it too large to fit the SN95 bullet wheels let alone any of them other than the 94-97 Cobra wheels.

You need a set of SN95 spindles for those wheels to work. 1994/1995 are the preferred spindles on a stock k-member car but they are hard to find and can be costly. From there you will need a stack of washers or a spacer totaling 0.330" in height as the Fox ball joints are longer than the SN95. The stack or spacer goes between the spindle and the castle nut. You can also opt to install SN95 ball joints in your stock lower control arms and skip the stack or spacer. Then you need rotors, calipers (would suggest the 99 and up units but up to you), pads, and caliper brake lines. You may need a soft line to hard line adapter on the passenger side but a quick search will turn that info up.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Yeah, the old school 5-lug rotors won't fit some of the newer Ford wheels. The snout of the rotor contacts exactly where pictured.

You can try spacers, different wheels, or convert to Sn95 brakes. You can't just swap the brake rotors on, it's a more involved conversion requiring a spindle change and new calipers and potentially a new MC as well depending on if you do rear disk brakes or not.

94-97 Cobra wheels, 94-95 tri-bars will fit those rotors. 96-98 Split 5-spoke 17's will mount up, but you won't be able to run the center caps up front.

 

[AeroCoupe]

Just for clarification - No caps on the tri-bars and split 5-spokes but you can run the cap on the Cobra wheels.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I think you can get caps on the tri-bars. Never had a set in hand but the Cobra R version used the 1993 chrome pony center cap, so I would assume it would work.


Also, the 99-04 17" starfish wheels will mount, but no center cap. I've seen someone cut a hole in that cap just big enough for the hub cap to poke through.

Ford OE 1995 Cobra R's will also fit over the Mark7 rotors. 1998 OE cobra wheels will not however.

 

[pindude80]

is this getting into a Hub centric vs a lug centric fit?

What is hub centric and lug centric?

 

[limp]

What is hub centric and lug centric?

Before we get into that, how a about a picture of your rotor/hub assembly to clarify if you have the Ranger rotors...
Some wheels are centered using the hub and some are centered using the lug nuts.....
Not just fox bodies, ALL cars.........
Again I think 5L5 and Aero are onto what your problem is.... Pics please...

 

[limp]

Also, the 99-04 17" starfish wheels will mount, but no center cap. I've seen someone cut a hole in that cap just big enough for the hub cap to poke through.

Fugliest thing I have ever seen....

 

[2000xp8]

My saleen1995 s351 wheels fit on my old lincoln rotors.
The center cap went on with the dust cap flattened.

My guess is the OP has a few options.
Different wheels, though it sounds like it could happen again.
Sn95 spindle upgrade, which may mean messing with the master cylinder if the rear isn't disc already.
Have the rotor machined
Or the wheel bore opened up.

If the wheel and brake plan in place is the long term plan, i'd have the center bore opened up.
If you are going to upgrade those things in the future, i'd have the rotor machined.

 

[85GTStangGuy]

The center cap went on with the dust cap flattened.

Just as an fyi to future searchers... since flattened dust caps were brought up.... and in case anyone needs some in the future, and doesn't want the look of homemade flattened caps.... Maker's Garage has "short dust caps" available.

79-93 Short Dust Caps - Makers Garage

The short dust cap is a direct replacement for 79-93 Mustang dust caps with stock-style spindles. These dust caps' short profile provides the added clearance to install aftermarket and newer style Mustang wheels without the center cap to dust cap clearance issues associated with the oe taller...

makers-garage.com

 

[pindude80]

Before we get into that, how a about a picture of your rotor/hub assembly to clarify if you have the Ranger rotors...
Some wheels are centered using the hub and some are centered using the lug nuts.....
Not just fox bodies, ALL cars.........
Again I think 5L5 and Aero are onto what your problem is.... Pics please...

Attached are pics of my rotor setup and also a pic of my spindle

 

[pindude80]

My guess is you have the old school way of a five lug swap. Basically using either the Lincoln Mark VII rotors or the Ranger rotors on the stock Fox Mustang spindles. The rotor hub it too large to fit the SN95 bullet wheels let alone any of them other than the 94-97 Cobra wheels.

You need a set of SN95 spindles for those wheels to work. 1994/1995 are the preferred spindles on a stock k-member car but they are hard to find and can be costly. From there you will need a stack of washers or a spacer totaling 0.330" in height as the Fox ball joints are longer than the SN95. The stack or spacer goes between the spindle and the castle nut. You can also opt to install SN95 ball joints in your stock lower control arms and skip the stack or spacer. Then you need rotors, calipers (would suggest the 99 and up units but up to you), pads, and caliper brake lines. You may need a soft line to hard line adapter on the passenger side but a quick search will turn that info up.

This is what I thought it would come down to. Are all 94-04 spindles, including V6 cars the same? Why are the 94/95 spindles the preferred spindle? I made a separate post about ball joints in control arms I bought used having different length ball joints than what came out of the car. The conclusion was the control arms I bought had SN95 ball joints so I do have SN95 ball joints to use for the swap.

 

[limp]

If your going to use a stock K member the 94-95 spindles are the optimum way to go....
Some aftermarket K members allow the usage of the later 96 spindles.. Check with the supplier first..
The 94-95 spindles have a dog leg to the tie rod connection
The spindles in the pic are both 94-95.. This picture was a before cleaning and after pic.....

 

[limp]

This is what I thought it would come down to. Are all 94-04 spindles, including V6 cars the same? Why are the 94/95 spindles the preferred spindle? I made a separate post about ball joints in control arms I bought used having different length ball joints than what came out of the car. The conclusion was the control arms I bought had SN95 ball joints so I do have SN95 ball joints to use for the swap.

What you have ( Ranger ) works fine but limits your use of upgrading brakes and limits what wheels you can use...
When upgrading to the 94-95 spindles you have many more options of wheels, options of better stock brakes, and you switch to a separate hub/rotor assembly instead of an " all in one" like what you have ( Ranger )...
Pic of what I did.... 94 spindles, 99-04 brakes, a separate sealed hub.... All bolt on using MM brake lines.....

 

[Mustang5L5]

Good tech article in here

1979-93 Mustang: Swapping to the 1994-04 Spindles

The reason for the change in the tie rod mount was because Ford lowered the rack approx 1" in 1996. By that i mean they lowered the positioning on the K-member relative to where it was on the 79-95 cars. As a result, Ford lowered the mount on the spindle as well.

You can't correct for the ensuing bumpsteer because in order to do so you need to move the tie rod end UP if you run 96+ spindles on a pre-96 car with stock factory K-member. The tie rod end and the spindle mount would need to occupy the same physical space.

So, the 94-95 ones are the big ticket items. AKAIK, the only K-member that used the 96+ steering rack location that allows the use of the 96+ spindles is the max motorsports K-member. All other aftermarket K-members retain the stock rack location.

A bumpsteer kit will not help here. The tie rod needs to go UP, not down.

Good photo comparing the two. Tie rod mounts from below, so you can clearly see that with the tie rod mounted under the left set of 94-95 spindles, that the pivot of the tie rod is in the same physical spot that the mount for the right hand 96+ spindle is. So you have no choice but to lower the tie rod down below where it should be. How bad does this translate to bumpsteer? Depends on the overall suspension setup, parts used and how low you actually are. Lower you go, the more you can get away with it being lower but your other suspension geometry now is probably way off. It's a fine balancing game

 

[2000xp8]

If you goto 94/95 spindles (which i'm all for) the ball joint may be the least of your worries if you don't have rear discs.
Running larger front calipers with drums messes with the pedal feel (back in the day i had done larger calipers with the stock MC and i could not get it to stop right), so it's usually necessary to change the master cylinder and i'm not really sure there is a master cylinder for upgraded front calipers and drums in the rear.
Mustang5L5 surely has that answer.